4.20 a.m.

After fulfilling a schedule packed day, Yoobin finally returned to her empty condominium unit with a sigh.

“I’m home,” she said to no one as she dragged herself towards the living room and plopped onto the comfy sofa. She pulled out her phone from her handbag but there were no messages, no missed calls. Everyone must have been busy too. Yoobin sighed again.

Ever since Sunye got married, the Wonder Girls had gone their separate way; though temporarily, Yoobin couldn’t help but felt unusually lonely. It had something to do with a quarter-life crisis (which many other generation Y were having as well) and her bruised ego that her younger, beloved dongseng was off to the next phase of her life with an amazing man by her side.

That left a twenty-five year old oldest member of an idol group questioning herself ‘Who am I?’, ‘What am I doing?’, or ‘What do I really want?’ on her every lonely nights. A couple of years ago, while working hard and snatching every possible opportunities, she would have had her mind set on becoming the best singer, the ‘it’ girl, the most famous celebrity, the richest, most-earned celebrity, and the list goes on. Now, upon seeing how happy Sunye was after her marriage, Yoobin began to ponder a lot on what really made her happy?

Surprisingly, the answers weren’t anything close to her goals a couple of years ago.

She was the happiest when she got a few days off and spent them with her old parents.

She was the happiest when she got to have pillow talks with her bandmates every night.

She mostly thought, she would be the happiest if she had her very own special someone whom she could talk to regardless the time, pouring her worries and sorrow to, have a shoulder she could cry on, and be ridiculously happy whenever she sees his face.

Fame comes and go, so no matter how high she climbed that social hierarchy, there will be time when she had to come down. It was not something she could permanently hold onto. She had enough money to live as she liked for the next sixty years. She bought her own condo unit, owned an expensive car. Had loving fans and a booming career. Still, everything just felt too empty right now.

Life was good when the girls were together. But eventually, everyone would grow old and go their separate ways. If only she could have that special someone who would stay by her side forever.

Where does she find one?

-

1.00 p.m.

Yoobin woke up and found that she fell asleep on her sofa last night. She let out a frustrated grunt over her stiff neck but forced herself to get up and get cleaned anyways. Fortunately she was free from any schedule that day. Might as well visit her parents and spend the day at home. If she was lucky, she could have a get together with old friends too.

Yoobin walked towards her room but took a step back in shock as soon as she saw what was in it. was large agape, in as much air as she could before she let out a scream.

The figure in white attire stirred from his sleep on her comfortable bed. Under half-lidded eyes, he stared at Yoobin weird.

“What’s with the noise?” The young man, who seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties, mumbled sleepily.

Yoobin quickly reached for the nearest object, which was a coat rack and pointed at him. “Who are you?! What are you doing in my house?!”

“Your house?” The young man’s eyes widened as he spun his head up and down, left and right to identify the place he was at. “Oh, no! I think I fell!”

“Fell? From where?” Yoobin frowned, feeling mighty suspicious against the young man in white.

“From heaven.”

“What?!”

“It’s true!” The young man briefly closed his eyes and pressed the tip of his fingers at his temple. And then he sighed exasperatedly. “It’s not working… I can’t contact them!”

“Contact who?” Yoobin lowered her supposed weapon and held her waist with one hand.

“The heaven.”

“The heaven,” Yoobin repeated, obviously not believing. “Are you crazy or are you a stalker?”

“I’m an angel,” he said it as if it was a fact.

“God,” Yoobin placed the coat rack down, closed her eyes and massaged her temple that was throbbing from too much sleep, “please tell me I’m still dreaming.”

“You’re not.” The guy stood up as soon as Yoobin opened her eyes again. “Look, I fell from heaven and I couldn’t get in contact with them. This is a big trouble. I have no idea how to get back.” The guy crossed his arms, frowning and staring at the floor, thinking hard on finding his ways back to heaven.

“Leave this place or I’ll call the police,” Yoobin warned. The guy looked alarmed. His lips parted as if there was more to explain about his ridiculous statement from before but no words escaped his lips. He was still dumbfounded himself that he woke up at her house. He tried to reminisce last night’s event as Yoobin walked around him and pushed him from behind towards the main entrance of the condo. He tried hard to remember what might cause him to fall down from heaven but his memories failed him.

“There must be a reason why I fell at your house,” he said as soon as his left feet touched the floor area over the border that differentiated between the floor inside her home and the corridor outside.

“Since you’re being harmless, just get out. Anything more than that, I’m calling the police, understand? You look like a high school kid so don’t skip school anymore. Have a nice day.”

The door slammed into his face.

-

Yoobin spent the next couple of hours cleaning her home and getting ready. She was planning to spend a couple of days at her parents' place since she had the next day free from any activities as well. She packed a couple changes of clothing before she headed towards the door. She stepped out of her house and locked the door when suddenly a familiar voice surprised her.

“I think I remembered something.”

Yoobin jumped and screamed, startled by the sudden interruption. She looked downwards and found out the ‘angel’ boy was sitting on the floor.

“You’re still here?!”

The boy stood up and smiled to his ears. She had to admit that he was pretty cute. Lost puppy kind of cute that made you want to scoop him in your arms and take him home. He was weird, even with that beautiful pair of large eyes, smooth straight hair, small full lips, fair skin and face with sculpted jaw. He wasn’t creepy, just amusingly weird. Maybe it was that innocent smile.

“I’m supposed to make you fall in love today,” he stated, grinning widely.

Yoobin laughed. “So God sent you to me?”

“No, I told you. I fell, even though I’m still not sure how that happened.” He frowned. “You’re supposed to fall in love with someone today, but I can’t remember who it is. I think I can tell if we meet that person so I should follow you around.”

“You want to follow me around?” Yoobin repeated, as if repeating his request in a question would make him change his mind.

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll find a way to get back too. Afterall, everything happened for a reason. There must be a reason why I fell to your house.” He smiled.

“Oh, gee, um… I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Maybe if you stay here and think for a bit longer you’ll find a way back?” Yoobin quickly turned around and dashed into the empty elevator. The boy sped up after her, barely managed to get on the elevator before the door closed. He just grinned when Yoobin sent him a look of disapproval.

-

Let’s say that he was an angel. He accidentally fell from heaven and didn’t know how to get back. At the same time, he would let her meet her soulmate today; that special person who will stay with her through thick and thin, her James to her Sunye. Yoobin stole a glance at him as she drove through the peaceful street while he bobbed his head to a kpop song played on the radio.

“Noona, do you like Girl’s Day? I love them. I especially love Minah. She’s so cute don’t you think?”

Suddenly, she was his noona. How about this: a guy so obsessed with the Wonder Girls’ Kim Yoobin and was so desperate to spend a day with her and made up ridiculous story that no one would ever believe nor prove if it was legit. He might be harmless but stalking was still a crime. Nobody knew if she was risking her safety. He was a guy afterall.

“Maybe I should send you to the police station.”

“What? No!” He whined with his whole body, shaking his shoulder from side to side.

“Do you expect me to buy that story of you falling from-”

“Then, do you think the police would? They would think I’m a crazy runaway minor and start to look for my parents. But I don’t have one so I would be stuck at the police station, sharing the same cell with a pickpocket or a drunk old man. Later on, when they found out that I have no relative they could reach, I might get sent to an orphanage or worse, a mental institution for telling the truth. And all you’ll ever get is the feeling guilt once you realize what you had done to an innocent young boy. On the other hand, if you let me stay with you, if you really believe what I told you, you might find your special someone. Think about it. Do you want to meet him, or miss the opportunity to do so?”

“Huh.” Yoobin was speechless. He didn’t seem like it, but he was actually a good talker.

“I’ll just stay quiet, stay out of trouble, and keep by your side. That’s all I’m asking, I promise!” The boy grinned again, putting up his hand for an oath.

Yoobin nodded in defeat. “Yeah. Well, you don’t meet a fallen angel everyday, right?”

“So what’s your name?” Yoobin finally asked after going back and forth between her decision to let him follow her around or sending him to the police station. She thought she was set on letting him stay with her for the day, but her indecisiveness would come back and bugging her about her decision until she grew tired of it and finally set on the previous decision.

“You can call me Jin.”

“Jin,” Yoobin practiced the name on her lips. “I’m Yoobin.”

“I know. You’re my favorite Wonder Girls member.”

Yoobin laughed. “Angels listen to kpop too?”

“They mostly aren’t interested. I’m the few ones who really like kpop.”

“So what’s your favorite group?”

“I’m a big fan of Wonder Girls, you can count me on that. But I’m into Hello Venus these days. Ah, take left.”

“Why?” Yoobin turned left anyway. She realized a millisecond too late that he was quite persuasive; intentionally when he wanted and unintentionally at other times. Now she had to take a long detour to get to her house.

“Because they are younger and cuter, of course,” Jin said without hesitation the least.

Yoobin rolled her eyes. “I was asking why you told me to take left.”

“Oh, because there was an accident and a bad traffic jam on the previous street.”

Yoobin’s eyes widened. “How can you tell that?”

“It was on the radio just now.” Jin blinked innocently. Yoobin’s expression fell again. She guessed she was too distracted before to even grasp whatever the radio was playing. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to keep this puppy after all.

“You… don’t look too good,” Jin carefully mentioned.

“Yes, I am contemplating whether I should send you to the police station for real.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll keep quiet. For real.”

Yoobin didn’t reply. She just kept driving ahead. It was peaceful for a brief moment until a disturbing news came on the radio.

“A guy who claimed to be Wonder Girls’ Kim Yoobin’ ex-boyfriend said that Yoobin owed him a whooping fifteen million^[1] won which was lent to her a short period before their relationship ended. He said they broke up about half a year ago and ever since he couldn’t get in contact with her. The identity of the guy was still unknown as of now but he revealed himself as a sound engineer who used to work at JYP Entertainment.”

“What the hell?” Yoobin reached out to turn off the radio in fury. Jin awkwardly glanced at her and cleared his throat.

“Is it true?” He asked carefully.

“Of course not! What money?” Yoobin’s voice trailed off as she tried to remember if she ever borrowed any money from him. “If anything, I was the one who paid in most of our dates,” she mumbled. This news was going to blow up for sure. Everybody in the country knew the Wonder Girls. Their popularity might not be as explosive as the Girls Generation but this news was still a big scoop, an ‘entertainment’ as they called it. The company was probably still not alerted of this sudden news. If it did, her phone would be ringing endlessly from the management.

“Noona, hit the break!”

“What? Ah!” Yoobin screamed in panic as she abruptly steered the wheel to the left and braked the car. Her mind was too clouded with the previous news that she lost focus in her driving. She realized that Jin’s hands were on the steering as well and that the handbrake was lifted. If it wasn’t for him, she would have crashed into a pedestrian who crossed the street in rush just now. The traffic light was still red so it was her fault.

Yoobin rushed out of her car together with Jin and crouched at the fallen pedestrian. He was groaning in pain but he didn’t seem to be suffering any serious injury, nothing she could see externally, as Yoobin helped him into sitting position.

“Are you crazy?!” The stranger who seemed to be the same age as Yoobin yelled at her. However, a brief moment later, his expression changed as he registered that the traffic offender was none other than the Wonder Girls’ Yoobin. The pedestrian managed to keep his anger under control, but he still seemed very pissed off.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!” Yoobin bit down her lip. She tried to help him up but he winced in excruciating pain. He signaled to Yoobin to let him go so she slowly put him down on the tarred ground again. His hand kept pressing a spot on his waist.

“I don’t think I can stand up right now,” he said her between his ragged breathing.

“W-we should get you to the hospital!”

Jin helped with gathering the scattered papers-all of them large sized architectural drawings-and then rolled them back neatly into the cylindrical casing. Jin helped Yoobin to get the pedestrian on his feet as he limped towards Yoobin’s car.

“I’m screwed,” the guy sighed from the backseat. Yoobin nervously glanced at him through the rear mirror.

“I-I’m really sorry,” Yoobin apologized again.

“Forget it. It already happened.” He winced again. Yoobin parted her lips, about to ask about his injury but his phone rang at that very moment. The guy answered.

“Hey. Yeah, I know, but I can’t make it to the meeting. I got into an accident. No, nothing serious but I’m injured. I think it’s pretty bad. I should get it checked right away. Yeah. Yeah, the drawings are all with me. Okay, meet you at the hospital.”

“Do you have an important meeting?” Yoobin bit her lower lip again. The bitter iron taste on her tongue made her realize that she should stop doing that.

“Yeah… I don’t think I can make it in this condition.”

Jin turned around from his seat and offered the stranger his hand and cheerfully introduced himself.

“Hi, I’m Jin. You are?”

Yoobin smacked his arm but the kid paid no attention to that. He insisted that he went through the introductory phase with the back passenger.

The passenger chuckled. He was still frustrated but amused at the boy nonetheless.

“Song Junghyun.” The man reached Jin’s slim fingers and shook them gingerly. Dragged into the awkward introductory process, Yoobin hesitantly introduced herself as well.

“I’m… Kim Yoobin…”

Junghyun sighed. “I know.”

-

At the hospital, while waiting for the result from the doctor, Yoobin received numerous phone calls from the management, some from pushy reporters who didn’t bother contacting the management first. Expectedly, they were all about the scandalous news that broke out that afternoon. Yoobin received an order from the chairman to report herself to the company as soon as possible, but she thought she could at least waited until Junghyun finished his checkup.

“Yah, Kim Yoobin!” A small voice whispered hard from behind her. Yoobin abruptly turned around, startled at the sudden interruption. It was one of the few female managers in JYP Entertainment, Park Haeri. She was very close to all the Wonder Girls members. She was probably sent by the company to fetch her. Under dire situation like this, they usually avoid having their artists going out alone or kept them locked indoor.

“Haeri unnie!” Yoobin reached for Haeri’s arms and squeezed them nervously.

“What’s up with that news? Is it true? Did you really date him?”

“It was last year for six months. But I didn’t borrow any money from him. That news was ridiculous. He was the one who borrowed money and stuffs from me all the time!”

“Thank goodness. But you shouldn’t be walking around in the public like this! You need to get back to the company.”

“Can’t that wait? I already told my parents that I’m visiting.” Yoobin frowned, feeling bad about having to let down her parents for canceling her visit.

“I know you haven’t seen them for a long time, but we need to tackle this issue fast. The chairman wants me to be with you at all times. I’ll try to keep the meeting short, okay? You can go home after that. Come on.”

“But…” Yoobin looked back at the door that led towards the Emergency Room. “Do we have to go… right now?”

“Oh, right. That guy.” Haeri scratched the back of her head. Of all time, Yoobin had to get into an accident right now. “You go ahead, Minjae is waiting outside. He will be driving. Let me settle the things here. Give me your car keys.”

“But, unnie, that’s a bit…” Her words trailed off. It was her fault for being careless while driving, but topping it off by leaving before he finished his treatment was too rude for her to forgive herself. Plus, it would be too embarrassing for her if they were to meet again later for her to properly apologize to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain to him. You have to go now, okay?” Haeri gave her some consoling pats at the back. She understood Yoobin’s hesitancy, but they didn’t have a choice at the moment. Yoobin gave one last glance at the door before she dragged her feet from there. And then she remembered something.

Jin.

Where was he?

She didn’t realize that the kid had been missing.

-

“Huh?” Jin appeared at the waiting hall outside the Emergency Room. He looked at Haeri and had a hunch that the woman had connections with Yoobin.

“Did Yoobin noona left already?” He asked all of a sudden. Haeri was dumbfounded for a few seconds before she was sure that he was talking to her.

“She had something important to attend to. Who are you?”

“I’m Jin. I was with her before.” Jin smiled.

Haeri frowned. Yoobin didn’t say anything about having a young guy with her just now. “Were you with her during the accident?”

“Yeah. We were heading to her parents’ house when it happened. Oh!” Jin stretched his neck to the side. Haeri turned around to look, and then saw a guy being pushed out from the Emergency Room in a wheelchair by a nurse. A doctor came out together with him.

“Hey, Junghyun hyung! How was it?” Jin waved his hand. Junghyun was still in pain but he chuckled at Jin’s antics. On the other hand, the doctor (and everyone else too) gave the kid a weird look before he averted his attention to Haeri.

“Are you…?” The doctor left his question trailed off.

“Ah, yes. I’m Miss Kim Yoobin’s representative, Park Haeri.” Haeri turend to Junghyun to explain. “She really wanted to stay here but something very urgent came up suddenly so she had to leave. Don’t worry, I will take care of everything on her behalf.”

Junghyun wasn’t showing much reaction to Haeri’s explanation, looking everywhere else but the young manager.

The doctor nodded in acknowledgement. “In that case, come to my office. Let’s talk about Mr. Song’s injury. It wasn’t anything serious, but he needed to be admitted for a few days.” 

Junghyun sighed and shook his head, feeling skeptical. “What do I expect from a top celebrity?” He muttered under his breath.

[1] fifteen million won - about fifteen thousand USD

dongseng - a term to call a younger sibling. In this case, close, younger friends that are regarded as siblings.

noona - what younger guys calls older female friends/siblings.

unnie - what younger girls calls older female friends/siblings.